#(what does it mean? is it an admission? is it a 'welp i may be innocent but god is punishing me for some other sin' thing? something else?)

[une-sanz-pluis]

The Southampton Plot in the Chronica Maiora

[Henry Scrope] was so highly regarded by the king that discussions on private or public matters were usually brought to an end by his verdicts. For in all his actions he showed such a restrained gravity and sanctity that the king judged that all his pronouncements should be carried out just as if they were oracles fallen from heaven. If an important embassy had to be sent to France, the king thought that Henry Scrope was the man who had the ability to perform this task. But all the while he was actually negotiating with the enemy, as a covert enemy of his own master, the king, and soothing the king with empty guarantees.He also deceived the council with empty promises, bringing back to both king and council delusory reports, a friend to his own side judging by his face, but in his heart a friend of the French. [1] Unaware of this the king had great confidence in him, on many matters entrusting himself to Henry’s judgement and giving him many special gifts. There was almost no Englishman, apart from his brothers, who was dearer to the king than that Henry Scrope, as the king had openly proved by the frequent exhibitions of his affection which he showed him.

But he made a wicked return for all these marks of esteem, for, just as his master, the king, was on the point of departing with his fleet prepared and his army collected, Lord Henry suddenly made ready to deprive him of his life by the sword, as he had been unable to do this by poison. In his support of the French he was contriving a double blow for his own country, for not only was he trying to kill its great king but also to ensure that all the equipment prepared for the war was destroyed. He had promised this to the French envoys, so the story goes, in return for a sum of money agreed on for the betrayal, and when the envoys now got back home, they brought their people such certain news from England that their report was that everything was quiet and peaceful and likely to help the French, as the king of England, following the terms of the agreement, had now changed his mind, and had either gone back to London, or at least, and this they thought more likely, had been killed. Lord Henry was joined in his treason by Richard, earl of Cambridge, brother of [Edward] the duke of York,1 and by Thomas Grey, a knight from the north. In fact it was the king who had made Richard an earl, enriching him with many goods and so honouring him by sitting next to him in parliament and other public places that he raised him above his other companions because of his birth and family. But no kindness shown, no benefit bestowed was able to prevent the traitors from taking up arms together to kill their great benefactor. So when they had put the finishing touches to their wicked plot, they approached the earl of March [Edmund Mortimer] with winning words and said they had formed a plan by which his own honour would necessarily be immensely increased, if only he would agree to their designs and confirm by taking a corporal oath that he would in no way reveal their plan.When he had done this, they said that they would suddenly kill the king with their swords and at once take the earl himself and elevate him to the throne of England. The young man shuddered with horror when he heard this, but on that occasion did not dare to oppose them or to say anything. But as soon as he could, when a suitable hour arrived, he went to the king and revealed to him the plot of these wicked men.[2] And so it happened that the traitors were arrested and condemned by the judgement of their peers. The king justly ordered their execution, after he had personally taxed Henry Scrope with ingratitude and asked him what he had received that they wished to kill him, after so many signs of gratitude from the king, which had not only been promised in light words but actually and as a matter of seriousness been carried out and performed. It is said that Henry, seeing that he would inescapably be executed, replied with just this one sentence, ‘I have sinned.’ When the king heard this reply, he went away weeping and sighing,[3] so that his royal person could have shown the truth of the verses once written about the goodness of Augustus Caesar by the poet Our prince is slow to punish, quick to reward, And when compelled to toughness, a man of grief.

[1] "There is no hard evidence to support the allegation that Scrope was in league with the French, but Walsingham here reflects a suspicion common amongst contemporary chroniclers: the author of the Gesta claims that Scrope and his co-conspirators were ‘tempted by the stench of French promises or bribes’. There seems to have been genuine surprise that a conspiracy should have been engendered inside Henry’s inner circle amongst men who had served him since his days as prince of Wales."

[2] "Mortimer revealed the plot to the king on 1 August. Perhaps he panicked but possibly he had been peripheral to its planning all along and was only apprised of the part he was to play at the last minute."

[3] "Henry may have been grief stricken by the fall of his friend, but his desire to punish him went beyond the scaffold; Scrope was denied his wish to be buried at York Minster and his head was displayed instead at Mickelgate. In contrast to the properties of his co-conspirators, his estates were seized by the crown and redistributed to beneficiaries outside his own family circle".

source: The Chronica Maiora of Thomas Walsingham, trans. David Preest, ed. James G. Clark (The Boydell Press 2005)

[womenofcolor15]

Donald & Melania Trump Test Positive For Covid-19, But Many Believe The President Is Scheming

Welp.  The "hoax" that President Trump at one point labeled Coronavirus as has caught up with him.  Details on he and Melania testing positive for Covid-19, plus the many suspicions people have about their revelation.

  UPDATE: VP nominee Kamala Harris and Presidential nominee Joe Biden both tested negative for Covid-19 today (10/2).  So did their spouses Dr. Jill Biden and Douglas Emhoff.

I’m happy to report that Jill and I have tested negative for COVID. Thank you to everyone for your messages of concern. I hope this serves as a reminder: wear a mask, keep social distance, and wash your hands.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 2, 2020

Both @DouglasEmhoff and I were tested for COVID-19 this morning and thankfully we tested negative. This virus is still very much active across our country, please continue to wear a mask and maintain social distancing.

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 2, 2020

We love a humble brag.

********

  Just hours after White House Senior Advisor Hope Hicks revealed she had tested positive for Covid-19, the current President and First Lady revealed they have tested positive as well.

Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020

The White House said today (Friday) that the President was suffering “mild symptoms” of COVID-19. It's unclear what Melania is experiencing. Before he revealed his positive test, he spoke to Fox News about Hope Hicks' diagnosis. He essentially blamed the military for infecting her, randomly mentioning in the conversation how "she's too warm of a person" to tell them "No, back up" when they walk up to her during visits.

He (falsely) stated Hope "wears a lot of masks" and then said this:

"It is very, very hard when you are with people from the military, or from law enforcement and they come over to you and they want to hug you and they want to kiss you because we really have done a good job for them. You get close, and things happen. I was surprised to hear with Hope, but she is a very warm person with them. She knows there’s a risk, but she is young. I just went out for a test, they just did it, it will come back later I guess. And the First Lady also, we spend a lot of time with Hope and others. We will see what happens… You have to treat our people great, you can’t just say, ‘Stay away! Stay away!’ They come up to you, there’s with such love with what we’ve done for them. There’s such love. You have to treat our people great."

“I spend a lot of time with Hope and so does the First Lady,” Trump continued. “And she is tremendous, I was a little surprised. But she’s a very warm person, she has a hard time when soldiers and law enforcement comes up to her, you know, she wants to treat them great, not say, ‘stay away I can’t get near you.’ It’s a very, very tough disease.”

How disrespectful to our military. We guess the fact Hope and the rest of the White House staff have been recklessly out and about mask-less since the start of this pandemic - at rallies, at meetings, at the Capitol, etc. Still, we wish Hope the best as she reportedly is "quite sick" according to ABC News.

How this affects our standing as a nation in the world is yet to be seen, but it is never a great thing when the leader of your country, a country that is a super power, has contracted a deadly virus that he's at higher risk for and that could affect him worse than it affects others due to him being high risk.

"The View" co-host Sunny Hostin said during today's show:

"He's 74, he's obese, he was in contact with many, many people- i believe 20-30 people on his airplane, he went to bendmister NJ for a rally I believe, so I worry about the people he came in contact with. worry about Melania and their son...I worry about VP Biden who was on stage with him during the debate."

Russia wasted no time chiming in: “I'm sure that your inherent vitality, good spirits and optimism will help you cope with the dangerous virus,” Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote in a direct message to Trump released by the Kremlin.

Vice President Mike Pence tested negative for the virus on Friday morning and “remains in good health,” his spokesman said. Apparently his wife also tested negative.

But how many others have The Trumps come in contact with and possibly infected? PLENTY. Donald and his team rarely, if ever, wear masks around each other, as we have witnessed in numerous pics, videos and by their own admissions.

  Trump, who said back in April he WOULD NOT wear a mask and has consistently belittled the Coronavirus disease, also had a rally this week where he threw hats into the mostly mask-free crowd.

WEDNESDAY: President Trump throws MAGA hats to the crowd at his rally in Duluth, Minnesota. pic.twitter.com/RdMzLe0C2E

— The Hill (@thehill) October 2, 2020

  I’m told a small group of officials were aware Thursday a.m. that Hope Hicks had tested positive. Despite that, President Trump traveled to New Jersey for a fundraiser and his press secretary held a briefing.

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 2, 2020

Members of his cabinet, like Sec. of State Pompeo, are now wearing their masks as of today, despite rarely doing so before this new revelation.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: "We are praying for the President and First Lady that they'll have a speedy recovery." pic.twitter.com/cpFwllJpFQ

— The Hill (@thehill) October 2, 2020

Presidential nominee Joe Biden - who battled Donald earlier this week in the wildest sh*tshow debate in American history - and VP nominee Kamala Harris took the high road, as usual, and sent their well wishes to their opponents:

Jill and I send our thoughts to President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for a swift recovery. We will continue to pray for the health and safety of the president and his family.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 2, 2020

  Doug and I join Joe Biden and Dr. Biden in wishing President Trump and the First Lady a full and speedy recovery. We’re keeping them and the entire Trump family in our thoughts.

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 2, 2020

This is despite trump berating him at Tuesday night's debate about wearing a mask.

“I don’t wear masks like him,” Trump said of Biden. “Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from me, and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”

CONFIRMED: There was no contact from the Trump campaign or the White House to alert the Biden campaign of possible exposure. The campaign learned of the situation from the news reports, a Biden campaign aide tells me.

— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) October 2, 2020

The hosts of the first Presidential debate, The Cleveland Clinic, put out this statement saying there is low risk of exposure from the debate:

The Cleveland Clinic issues a statement saying “we believe there is low risk of exposure” to people who were at the debate. As we know, Trump guests declined a Clinic doctor’s request to wear masks pic.twitter.com/3RvwW7n4pg

— Chris Jansing (@ChrisJansing) October 2, 2020

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that hopefully Trump's diagnosis yields a "saner approach" to tackling Coronavirus. While the politicians are playing nice, the rest of us are holding a mean side eye. Across social media, people are questioning the timing of this revelation, even if it's true. We would certainly hope the President of the free world would draw the line of lies and deceit at lying about a deadly virus, but, we have no reason to believe he has a line. We've learned Trump would do any and everything to win an election and to appear to be invincible.

Trump has consistently been dismissive of the virus and played down concerns about being personally vulnerable. So, it strikes many people as odd that he so nonchalantly announced his positive diagnosis.

Here are some of the theories about why that may be. And, honestly, they don't seem too far fetched, considering who it's Trump we're talking about here.

        View this post on Instagram

                  #KellyRowland reacts to reports that #DonaldTrump has #COVID19. Do you agree or disagree?!

A post shared by TheYBF (@theybf_daily) on Oct 2, 2020 at 9:27am PDT

Here’s how wrecked Trump’s credibility is at this point: I’ve got a cellphone full of texts from people who aren’t sure whether to believe Trump actually has covid. “He lies so much,” one friend just texted. “Is he just doing this to get out of the debates?” others are texting.

— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) October 2, 2020

The Melania Trump tapes dropped about 16 hours ago and have already been buried by this breakneck news cycle

— Shawn Reynolds (@ShawnReynolds_) October 2, 2020

  Trump's war on truth has caused a nation of conspiracy theorists and a nation who cannot take anything the current White House says at face value.

  Photo: Evan El-Amin/Shutterstock.com

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2020/10/02/donald-melania-trump-test-positive-for-covid-19-but-many-believe-the-president-is-schemin

[writersriot]

@neepcreature

So so sorry it took me forever to get back to your response to Part 16!! I also apologize for my long-ass response haha, hence why this is in a separate post. Because I am a rambler who talks to much concerning my special interests.

When Two-Bit and Marcia get married (in my mind haha), they would absolutely end the rivalry lol. I just love how they instantly bonded over their shared sense of humor, but then we never heard about them again. Like dude, what happened to my one het ship in this book haha.

The ages!! Oh god the ages lolol. See, the way these characters��� ages are written. . .just doesn’t make sense. I don’t know if this came from Hinton writing as a teenager and making certain assumptions about how people act at certain ages?? I know by the time kids are seniors in high school, around 17-18, they look at the freshmen, around 13-15, and think they’re babies haha. And sometimes the ones who are out of high school but still basically youths seems so much older and wiser (which, lol.)

Darry is 20, but god at 20 I knew nothing, and Darry is holding up his family by himself. Even Two-Bit is 18 going on 19 yet still in school, not even a senior yet. And he’s the oldest of the gang, which really makes me think Darry isn’t usually involved with the gang so much as maybe Soda is. I think Two-Bit even mentions that he’d beat down Pony if he weren’t Soda’s kid brother, so it makes me think this gang is mostly made of these boys who went to the same school for at least some time and who live in the same neighborhood. (So like Pony and Darry are included in the gang because they’re related to Soda I guess)

Because Soda is 16 going on 17, which I assume Steve is as well since they’re best friends. Who else is that age?? Johnny. With Dally only a year older. Like lol forever. Because really, is it Pony wanting to be part of the gang so much and to be taken seriously like you said? Like Pony kind of latches onto Johnny as a type of kindred-spirit as shy, quiet types that Pony makes assumptions about Johnny, seeing him as younger than he is and closer to Pony’s age? ‘Cause even though Johnny is Pony’s friend, I feel like Johnny sees Pony as a younger brother he would (and does) protect.

I also think maybe Pony fundamentally doesn’t understand the relationship Johnny has with the other members of the gang either because he doesn’t see it. I think his notion of this is amended a bit at the end of the book, when it’s too late unfortunately.

So is the infantilizing of Johnny really as bad as it seems in Pony’s perspective? Or is it just Pony’s interpretation of events? I mean, we know Johnny is small for his age, which can happen to kids raised in abusive situations, though of course it could be he’s a little of a late bloomer puberty-wise. And we know the gang wants to protect Johnny due to his abusive and neglectful home life. Pony says Johnny is the “pet” of the gang, which I don’t even know what to make of other than Pony making assumptions.

Here’s a kid very near the same age as most of the guys in the gang, yet due to his size and likely being in the same class as Pony, he maybe gets treated like another little brother. But he’s the little brother you don’t fuck with at all. And honestly, Pony calls Johnny the pet, but we really don’t see that kind of dramatic behavior from the rest of the gang. They’re protective of him, absolutely. But it’s honestly as if the only one who infantilizes Johnny is, in fact, Ponyboy himself? Like, I just don’t get those “he’s the pet” vibes from the rest of the gang so much as “Johnny’s already been through shit so don’t give him any more” vibes.

And this infantilizing of Johnny I think is what makes readers think he’s Pony’s age instead of the same age as most of the gang. And I think it’s why some people are against the Johnny/Dally ship as well? Like they see it as a dramatic age and power difference, when really, I think that’s only due to Pony’s narrative of everyone and not actually what the subtext implies. That’s my analysis of it.

Oh gosh, I followed Hinton on twitter just a little before her rude responses started up and garnered so much attention back in October last year. I thought, oh cool, another author to love -- oh shit nevermind. Like she would tweet some good stuff and then make me kind of despise her when answering questions about The Outsiders lol. So yes, I saw all of her. . .Hinton-ness. She honestly should have said, “That wasn’t my intention writing these characters, but it’s cool if readers see something else,” and left it at that. And maybe people should have stopped asking her if the characters were gay and just said, “I see them as gay no matter what lol bye” like haha that’s the only way I would ever do it because I don’t need an author’s permission to read their book a certain way.

But I stg Hinton needs to go back over what she wrote. Because what she thinks she wrote and what actually made it onto the page appear to be different. Like if she wanted to make Johnny really excited to talk to girls. . .I’m sorry, that just didn’t happen. And she kept saying “where’s the textual evidence?” and I’m like read your fucking book, lady! Or get a queer person to read it and explain it to you because you didn’t actually manage to make Johnny’s heterosexuality set in stone lol. I was twelve, attending Catholic school, and I was like damn that’s hella gay. Like I didn’t even really have a good concept of “gay” but I knew Johnny and Dally were pinging my gaydar haha. And I’m hella aroace and I could still see the subtext of it playing out through the book.

At her age, if Hinton really weren’t homophobic, she could probably look at what she wrote fifty years ago as a teenager and think, “huh maybe this is a little queerer than I thought I was writing back then. Welp.” Because by her own admission she says she didn’t know any queer people growing up, which lol I call BS she just didn’t know any OUT queer people. She’s one of those types of people that says, “Ask anyone if it was cute to be gay in the 60s” as if queer people didn’t exist back then with their own community.

It’s like she’s ignoring the counter-culture of hippies that came about in the 60s. And there was a queer movement from the 50s that resembled the picture of manliness, I forget what it’s called now, which is something Greasers apparently actuated by controlling their emotions and seeming utterly “cool” which honestly, is not the type of Greaser Hinton wrote about with their violent feelings haha. Plus there’s a whole punk and queer movement on the cusp of this, so Hinton can’t convince me everywhere in the 60s was homophobic. Maybe Tulsa, Oklahoma had it’s fair share of bigots but my god.

Queer people existed back then, and now we are all more widely accepted, so maybe instead of contributing to a stifling culture of authorial intent of heteronormativity, how about she reconsider what it could mean for her characters to be considered queer in this day and age as good role models and that sure, it’s okay to be queer. Granted, the two I believe are the most queer are the ones who end up dead so it maybe just adds to the “bury your gays” trope but who knows. In that case, Hinton might think for the 60s that would actually be accurate representation. (I’m sorry, maybe that was mean lol).

Anyway, clearly I’m a little bitter over how she handled the situation because I started writing this series after all.

Johnny absolutely has PTSD! I’m glad you brought that up because you’re right, I haven’t mentioned it in this series yet. But it’s very important to consider that Johnny comes from an abusive and neglectful home, and then he gets attacked by the Socs which is a hugely traumatic event. The kid is a mess, and I feel so badly for him because he’s just trying to survive. But absolutely it’s a concept that isn’t recognized in the book, and honestly I think it’s difficult for kids and even teens to recognize trauma and PTSD for what it is. I know I didn’t recognize being in an abusive situation until much later in life. And it seems like the type of household Johnny came from was common in the 60s because I hear stories from my mom and even my gramma that make me go “wtf that is abusive as shit.” So I definitely think Hinton herself didn’t realize she was writing a character with PTSD as we would analyze it now.

That’s why it is interesting that Cherry does recognize that Johnny has had some kind of trauma. I absolutely believe it’s leaking from Johnny’s pores most of the time, and sometimes stuff like that is more obvious to people who don’t see a person every day. And Pony definitely doesn’t have the vocabulary or knowledge of PTSD, so you’re right, that may very well be why Pony describes Johnny as shy. Because Pony also describes Johnny as looking like a kicked puppy most days, and I just ugh cry a little. It absolutely sounds like Two-Bit triggers a dissociative episode, but that Pony would only see it as Johnny being jumpy and scared. Like Pony would just have no concept of how traumatic the attack was for Johnny, even despite Pony having his own form of PTSD after the death of his parents, which we see a reoccurrence of after Johnny’s death. Just all around, I feel so much for these boys.

I could chalk this up to Hinton’s writing, but again she was a teenager herself, so I want to say that she just needed a narrative device of trauma without necessarily seeing what that means for the characters. Having the narrator say Johnny is shy when he really doesn’t exhibit that behavior just shows me that Hinton didn’t have a great grasp on what she was writing either. That’s why many readers have such a different reaction to the story because we recognize the trauma, the PTSD, the abuse, and yes, the queer subtext. But these are issues that I never heard discussed in any classes, it was always the Socs versus the Greasers and what “the same sunset” bullshit means and asking about the abuse without framing it as abuse. It’s like only a surface-level reading of these characters that I could never stand because I saw so much more to them. It’s a pity that Hinton can’t see beyond the surface of the story she wrote either.

So yeah, anyway. Long post is long, and I hope my rambling made some sort of sense?? Uh, I ALWAYS want discussions like this, even on previous posts or just on their own if you say, “hey I was thinking about this” like I will be right on your page!! Sorry for bombarding you with such a lengthy, nonsensical response, but thank you for having discussions with me, it makes my life meaningful and my special interest in The Outsiders feel like it hasn’t been wasted the last uh almost couple decades haha.